Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-11-24
A NARROW ESCAPE.
My Pretty Cousin, Her Lover and
Miss Blanch Bernard.

wavy. plentiful, golden, with those pc.
-cuIiarly beautiful lights which Giorgi-
one and Titan have made immortal.
glimmering and sparkling through its
luxuriant waves. Miss Blanch was by
no means a regulation beauty, but the
shape of her head was classical, her
eyes large and lustrious, her teeth
white and regular, and her form could
be described but by one word-perfec-
ton. Yet her hair was her piece de re-
sistance-how many men have raved
over its splendor and lost their hearts
in its golden depths! One l have spec
ial cause to remember because he had
engaged himself to my cousin, pretty,
lovable little thing. before Miss Ber-
nard's golden locks dawned upon him
and tangled him in their bcwildering
mesheS.
Miss Bernard had other attractions
besides golden hair, lustrous eyes and
milky teeth. She could sing with taste
and feeling, play superbly. dance like
n sylph is supposed to dance, and talk
which have beauty and dignity. have
no sweetness, and roses, which have
both beauty and fragrance, have
thorns, Miss Bernard had her draw
backs. Some were merely the faults
of the woman. womanly. and could be
pardoned by lover. She had trick.
for instance. of holding one spellbound
by dropping her eyes until her lovely
dark lashcs were outlined by her bril-
liant cheeks with pre-Raphaelite dis
tinctness. then lifting her white lids
and flashing the full glory of her hazel
orbs upon her masculine adorer.
have seen this vancouver practiced
with deadly effect not only by Miss
Bernard. but by scores of pretty wom-
en-, violet-cyed. hazel-eyed, black-eyed
and gray; but warn cross
eyed girls. white eyed girls
and girls with white. pig-like
lashcs to beware of it. Then. her head
being classical. she invariably wove her
hair after simple and most charming
fashion-coiling its cleaning masses in
a heavy. careless knot. This style had
three-fold advantages: first, it was a
delightful contrast to the heads of
womankind in general, and gave Miss
Bernard distinct and striking style
of her own; secondly. it was especially
becoming and eminently calculated to
display TO the utmost the beauty of her
.shapely head and lovely hair; thirdly.
it had the advantage of tumbling over
her graceful shoulders in most admired
disorder upon the least provocation.
If Miss Bernard waltzed. her hair had
a way of loosening its cleaning coils;
if she threw back her head and laughed
"a cadenced. musical laugh which of
itself was enough to take captive the
most obdurate and unimpressible of
member hair showerel down like a
mist of gold; if she rompei with
Bertha, her year-old niece. down came
her golden fleece. And when lustrous
eyes and dewy lips sparkled and smiled
from out this shimmering mass of
tumbled gold. St. Anthony himself
could not have resisted her, at least for
the first time he should behold the Wis
ion; after he had seen it score of
times. its charm would depart with its
novelty. 1t was this. to me. transpar-
-ent trickery of the falling hair which
was the most potent charm to my
cousins lover. Being the sworn cham
pion of womankind. will not insinu-
ate that all ladies with luxuriant tress-
es allow them to tumble about in this
prOmiscuous fashion.
Miss Demands thorns were of a
more pronounced character than the
varieties 1 have recounterd. If her
eyes were flashing and fiery, so was
her temper. and. though her lips could
smile sweetly. she had. like Petrucio' s
Kate. "a tongue with a tang within
her dewy roses As a just and trust
full raconscur 1 must testify that
always found her tongue velvety and
the temper sweet as milk and honey.
but my cousins lover discovered the
volcanic nature of her temper on one.
to him, memorable occasion. Clal-
-ence wac frank. merry, good-looking